Henry 'Harry' Abdy Fellowes-Gordon (10 December 1883 – 18 May 1940) was a British tea planter and politician in Colonial Ceylon.[1]
Fellowes-Gordon was born in Cupar, Fife, Scotland, the eldest son of Henry 'Harry' Gordon Gordon-Fellowes (1858–1925), the fifteenth Laird of Knockespock, and Millicent Amelia Charlotte née Blood (1862–1931).[2][3] He received his education at Wellington College, Berkshire.[4][5]
Fellowes-Gordon fought in the South African War (1901–1902),[4] in the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.[6][7] He subsequently served with the Leicestershire Regiment in World War I attaining the rank of a Lieutenant.[4][8]
In 1912, Fellowes-Gordon purchased a tea plantation, Roehampton Estate, in Haputale, which he managed for twenty years.[9][10]
Upon his father's death in 1925, Fellowes-Gordon inherited his father's estate in Aberdeenshire.[11]
On 13 June 1931, he was elected to the 1st State Council of Ceylon representing Bandarawela. One of only two British elected to the State Council, the other being H. R. Freeman, who represented Anuradhapura.[12] Fellowes-Gordon polled 9,029 votes, defeating the Sinhalese candidate, H. J. Pinto, by 3,299 votes[13] due to his influence with the majority of Tamil Indian voters.[14] He was appointed to the Executive Committee on Agriculture and Lands.[15][16]
Fellowes-Gordon failed in his bid to get re-elected at the next State Council election in 1936,[17] at which Daniel Dias Gunasekera, a Ceylonese businessman, won the seat of Bandarawela. He died in Ceylon in 1940.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ "Hon. Fellows-Gorden, Abdy, M.P." Directory of Past Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Wimberley, Douglas (1903). Genealogical account of the family of Gordon of Knockespock. p. 92.
- ^ Ceylon Green Book. 1932. p. 81.
- ^ a b c Who's who of Ceylon. 1920. p. 68.
- ^ Annual Report of the Wellington College Natural Science Society. Vol. 21–30. Wellington College Natural Science Society. 1891. p. 31.
- ^ "Lieutenant A. Fellowes Gordon". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Bulloch, John, ed. (1903). Scottish Notes and Queries: Second Series. Vol. IV. Aberdeen: A. Brown & Co. p. 99.
- ^ "No. 30256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1917. p. 8953.
- ^ Colin-Thome, David (ed.). "A. Fellowes Gordon". Planters Registry. History of Ceylon Tea. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Ranasinha, Sir Arthur (1972). Memories and Musings. Gunasena. p. 109.
- ^ "Fellowes-Gordon v Commissioners of Inland Revenue (1933-1935) 19 TC 683". Croner-i Ltd. 28 June 1935. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ Ranatunga, D. C. (3 July 2015). "Electing people's representatives". Daily FT. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Sarath, M.; Munasinghe, K. (31 March 2004). "Political clergymen of the past". The Island. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Russell, Jane (1982). Communal Politics Under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931-1947, Volume 26. Tisara Prakasakayo Ltd. p. 92.
- ^ The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1935. Waterlow & Sons, Limited. 1939. p. 266.
- ^ Development, 1931-1981, Sri Lanka: Publication Depicting Public Sector Development in Sri Lanka to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Adult Franchise Introduced to Sri Lanka in 1931. Ministry of Plan Implementation. 1981. p. 27.
- ^ Peebles, Patrick (2001). The Plantation Tamils of Ceylon. A&C Black. p. 172. ISBN 9780718501549.
- ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995